


et du cœur à tes lèvres

by littlehuang (boyfrendery)



Series: on se prend la main, comme des enfants [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Canon Compliant, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-15 12:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20866067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boyfrendery/pseuds/littlehuang
Summary: je deviens un casse-tête(or: a collection of markhyuck for #00fftober)prompts fulfilled: blessing & curse, dimension





	1. Day 3: Blessing & Curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mark contemplates the pros and cons of being in a group with donghyuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> applicable tags: Wong Yukhei | Lucas, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Pining

“I still can’t believe they named this  fucking deer after me.”

Donghyuck is furious, looking at his screen, Twitter pulled up to their group’s official account. He’s browsing through the mentions, using the best of his English skills to look through the comments about this  pudu . Whatever that is.

Mark is watching over his shoulder as he continues scrolling, reading the tweets at a much quicker pace than Donghyuck. Mark places one of his hands on Donghyuck’s shoulder and presses it back, forcing him to straighten up his back.

“Stop hunching over, you’re gonna break your back.”

Donghyuck snorts. “Maybe I’ll eventually hunch so far down, I’ll start walking on all fours and BECOME THIS DEER!”

Being in two groups with Donghyuck is both a blessing and a curse. They’ve grown up together, seen the best and worst of themselves through the years of training, the tears and frustration, late nights fuelled by energy drinks, long days staring into the practice room mirror. When Mark learned that they’d be in not one, but  two units together — well. It was a lot to take in.

A blessing, because it’s his best friend. He loves his best friend, works well with him, and what more could you wish for than being able to work together, pursuing your dream along the same path?

A curse, because it’s his best friend, and he  _ loves _ his best friend. God, he loves him. But he can’t tell him, no, not yet, not ever.

So when hearing Donghyuck rant for the nth time about this deer, a mini-me named Haechan living on the other side of the Pacific, he didn’t find himself all that annoyed. It was funny to watch, endearing even, to see Donghyuck get himself so worked up again.

“Why are they still talking about this deer? Why did the zoo have to make a Twitter account for it?” He locks his phone and tosses into his backpack. He then rests his head on Mark’s shoulder, his fingers playing with the rips in his jeans. “I already met the pudu! Wasn’t that enough?”

Mark chuckles, patting his best friend on the back. “Hyuck, I think you meeting it just made it worse.”

Donghyuck lifts up his head from Mark’s shoulder and pouts. “This tour sucks.”

Dream has their first comeback since Mark’s graduation in July, barely a month after 127 wraps up their Neocity tour. Most of the other members get to enjoy some time off, but Mark? Not a chance. As if graduating from one unit wasn’t enough, Mark is going to debut again. For the fourth time.

But he gets to promote with his other best friend, Lucas, so that’s an added bonus.

They’re sitting in the practice room, enjoying a break during their first practice as Super M. Taeyong and Ten are attached to the hip, happy to be rehearsing together again, while Kai watches Baekhyun and Taemin argue over who gets to be the group’s leader.

Lucas nudges Mark’s legs and hands him a bottle of Gatorade. He forgot to bring his own bottle so he was grateful that Lucas had a spare in his duffle.

“So Mark,” Lucas starts off, looking at Mark as his drinks the Gatorade. “Have you professed your undying love to Haechan yet?”

Mark chokes on the liquid in his mouth, nearly spitting it out onto the floor. He lets out a cough accompanied by vigorous head shaking, but all Lucas does is laugh. “I thought you said you were gonna tell him after you graduate?”

“Shhh dude I- we-“ Mark looks around the practice room, to see if their hyungs were listening, but Taeyong and Ten have been pulled into the leader argument.

Mark speaks quietly, “I was going to but then he like, got injured, and then we went on tour. So yeah. No good time to do it.”

Lucas finishes the last of his water and takes Mark’s bottle, stealing a swig of Gatorade. “Whatever you say, man.”

“Hyuck, do you always have to mention me during Dream’s Vlive? I’m not in the group anymore, you know.” The award show in Indonesia has just finished and Mark is lounging around in Donghyuck and Johnny’s hotel room, looking through their fridge. He contemplates taking one of the mini bottles of whiskey, just because he needs some liquid courage, but the company would blame it on Donghyuck or Johnny. He’ll have to do this sober.

Donghyuck comes out of the bathroom wearing a fuzzy bathrobe, a towel hung over his head. He smells of fresh soap and a hint of ginseng, the sweet, signature scent of the shampoo he refuses to leave home without. Mark wants to bottle this sight all for himself, carry it with him everywhere.

“So you’re saying you watch all of our Vlives?” Donghyuck smirks a bit, ruffling his hair with his towel.

Mark blushes as he sits on edge of Donghyuck’s bed, feet floating above the floor. His mouth is agape, hung open with no response coming out. “Errr- uhh- yes?”

Donghyuck sits next to Mark and shakes his head back and forth, wetting Mark’s face as water flies off the strands of his hair. “As you should.”

He takes edge of his sleeve and wipes off some of the water droplets on the edge of Mark’s face. He’s looking intently, catching each drop with the robe’s sleeve, and Mark ingrains the sight of Donghyuck like this into his mind, tattooing the slope of his nose, the pout of his lip, the damp, ginseng-scented hair in his deep memory.

“Hyung, stop looking at me like that.” Donghyuck has dropped his hand, resting it behind him on the bed.

Mark snaps out of his reverie, refocuses his attention on Donghyuck’s eyes. “Like- like what?”

“Like- like you’re in love with me, or something.” Donghyuck looks away, down into his lap, his fingers toying with the pockets of the robe. “You’ve got sparkles in your eyes. All our fans say that.”

Mark thinks back to Lucas, about professing his love or whatever, and maybe this is the best time to do it. “Well, Hyuck,” his voice is shaky, slow. “I- I think I do?” He falls back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. He can’t look at Donghyuck right now. “No, I’m pretty sure I do. I love you.”

Donghyuck doesn’t say anything and it feels like forever before he does anything, says anything. He just sits on the edge of the bed, looking down at Mark laying next to him, face unreadable. Mark wishes he took one of the bottles in the fridge now. Maybe then this would be more bearable.

Mark closes his eyes before speaking again. “You don’t have to, like- it doesn’t- we-“

Mark doesn’t see anything when he feels the weight of the bed shift, smells the ginseng scent grow closer to his nose, hears the breath of Donghyuck next to his face. He doesn’t get to see any of it, because his eyes are shut tight as Donghyuck leans over, rests his elbow on the bed as he kisses Mark on the lips, softer than he could have ever imagined.

He opens his eyes and Donghyuck isn’t there. He’s laying on the bed, curled into the side of Mark’s body, his damp hair against Mark’s shoulder. “I’m pretty sure I love you too.”


	2. Day 5: Dimension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> donghyuck walks into mark's family's hair salon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> applicable tags: Na Jaemin, Alternate Universe - Not K-pop Idols, First Meetings

Mark spends a lot of his free time at the hair salon below his apartment. Partly because his family runs the salon (_Lee’s Palace_ sounds more like a restaurant than a hair salon, as far as Mark’s concerned), but mostly because his best friend convinced Mark’s family to teach him more about hair. Of all his friends to get into hairdressing, he wouldn’t have predicted Jaemin of all people. But it makes sense. Mark’s mom has been bleaching and cutting Jaemin’s hair as long as he’s known him.

So Mark hangs out here way more often than he’d like to admit, sitting in one of the empty salon chairs after school while Jaemin learns the ins and outs of becoming a successful hair stylist.

“Jaemin, I’m not gonna be your model again. I like my hair the way it is.” Mark’s eyes are still glued to his Hamlet book, using all of his remaining braincells to figure out an argument for his English essay. “You did a great job dyeing it back to black. I’m not changing it. Why don’t you ask your brother?”

“Jisung is being such a brat. He won’t let me touch his hair.” Jaemin continues to examine the wig in front of him. “He’ll ask me to buy him bread in the middle of the night but won’t accept a free dye job from me. Useless.”

Jaemin ruffles the bangs of the wig before taking a seat next to Mark. He leans over Mark’s arm, his pastel pink hair obstructing Mark’s view of the page. “Your dad said I could bleach and tone someone’s hair for real on Saturday. He’s got some leftover colours and bleach I could try.” He looks up at Mark, pouting. “Can I please dye your hair again?”

“Again, no. Ask someone from school. Lots of people wouldn’t mind getting their hair done for free.” Mark waves his hand at Jaemin, swatting him away from the book in his lap.

Jaemin slumps against the leather chair and leans his head back, hair falling into the sink behind the chair. “Fine. I’ll find someone else. Maybe Chenle.”

“Nope,” Mark responds immediately. He flips the page of his book and looks up at Jaemin. “He came in on Sunday. Left with green hair. Sicheng said it was a lot of fun to do.”

“That little shit!”

Saturdays are busy at the salon: lots of early appointments to start off the weekend, clients leaving with newly toned hair or a fresh cut. Mark spends the greater part of the morning helping out at the salon, trudging downstairs at 9am with a bowl of cereal in one hand and a cup of milk the other. He sweeps the floor of the salon clean of hair, folds towels for the salon sinks, or greets guests at the front — whatever is needed at the moment. He scoops spoonfuls of cereal into his mouth and takes sips of milk when he can.

Jaemin arrives at 11:30am, his pink hair already styled and parted to the side, sporting the just-got-out-of-bed-but-not-really look. He heads to the back of the salon and begins setting up his chair, pulling out the necessary foils and bottles.

Mark instinctively runs his hands through the front part of his black hair, tousling the bedhead he walked downstairs with. “So didja find a client for today?”

“Yup! This guy who plays flute in my band class.” Jaemin pours one of the bottles into a bowl and mixes it vigorously until the liquid is a bright shade of blue. “He’s cool.”

The floor is spotless and no clients are waiting at the front. Mark grabs his bowl of cereal — left on a shelf in the shampoo and conditioner display, for some reason — and sits on the chair next to Jaemin’s, watching as Jaemin mixes another bowl to make a light shade of red. Once he’s done, he grabs another bowl and pours more dye, mixing it to become a leafy shade of green.

“That’s,” Mark counts the bowls lined along the mirror. “A lot of colours. He wants all of these?”

“Yeah, he literally told me to do whatever I want.” Jaemin smiled devilishly. “So he’s getting all the fun ones. I wanna see how they look like on real hair.”

At the front of the salon, the bell hanging over the door chimes as someone walks in. Mark immediately gets up to greet the client, mouth still full of cereal.

“Hi! Welcome to Lee’s Palace,” he says, barely swallowing before making it to the front.

The boy in front of him is breathtaking, really. His hair is dyed a dusty faded blond, fringe just above his eyelids. Mark can’t help but notice the moles on left side of his face, small beauty marks along his skin, as the boy turns his head to look around the salon.

Jaemin rushes up behind Mark, patting him on one shoulder. “There you are! Mark, this is Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck stretches out his hand and Mark takes it, shaking his hand loosely. The sleeves on his white sweater are too long and brushes over Donghyuck’s palms, resting just below his knuckles. 

“Thanks again for agreeing to this, Donghyuck. This guy here,” Jaemin says, nudging Mark. “Didn’t wanna model for me. He’d rather be boring.”

Mark would usually snap back at Jaemin’s mockery but he can’t bring himself to today. “My hair just needs a break from bleach.”

The two head toward Jaemin’s chair, Donghyuck’s head casually looking around the salon. Jaemin drapes a cape over Donghyuck’s front and seats him in the chair.

Mark grabs his cereal bowl and taps Jaemin’s shoulder. “I’m going upstairs to work on my essay for a bit. I’ll be back down later.” He looks up at the mirror, making eye contact through the reflection. “You’re in great hands, Donghyuck.”

The last Mark remembers before going upstairs is Donghyuck’s smile back to him, a smile of relief.

Two failed thesis statements later, Mark walks back down to the salon. He opens the door and is immediately greeted by Jaemin.

“You’re in time! I just finished,” Jaemin says, setting down the flat iron onto the counter.

With the combination of colours that Jaemin laid out, this is not what Mark was expecting. He imagined a full rainbow on Donghyuck’s head, his hair completely coloured with shades of blue and red and green. He imagined it _too_ bright, a bit too chaotic for cute flute-playing boy in the school’s band.

But Jaemin’s good at what he does and he’s managed to create art.

The dusty blond of Donghyuck’s hair remains intact, albeit a tad darker, rejuvenated again by new toner. Through his hair runs streaks of colour: the rainbow speckled throughout, strands in patches running down toward his front. A prominent blue strand falls at the front of Donghyuck’s face, above his right eye, and Mark can’t find the words for it.

On top of this, Jaemin has styled Donghyuck’s hair, giving him loose texture and waves throughout, bringing out the colours even more.

Mark looks in the mirror in front of Donghyuck, to his reflection again, looking at his face. He’s staring at himself a bit nervously.

“You look…” Mark takes a sweeping look over Donghyuck’s hair once more, searching for the right word. He turns to Jaemin. “It looks fantastic, dude. Really. I was wondering what you were planning with those colours and this— it looks great.”

He meets Donghyuck’s eyes again in the mirror. “You look really good.”

Donghyuck’s eyes lower into his lap, the shy look of not knowing how to answer a compliment. “Thanks, Mark.”

Jaemin walks over to Donghyuck’s chair and unhooks the cape. “I’m really happy with it. I was aiming to give him lots of dimension.”

Mark mulls over the word. The smallest shift — an added colour here, a change in texture there — and the dimension changes completely, lends more to what’s already there.

Donghyuck, entering the salon a cute stranger, soon to leave _still_ a stranger. Dimension added to his hair but nothing else, nothing more to this encounter.

Mark wants to change that, add layers to what he knows about this beautiful boy with rainbow streaked hair.

**Author's Note:**

> _et du cœur à tes lèvres, je deviens un casse-tête_: from your head to your lips, i become a headache
> 
> (i feel like this line just describes markhyuck so. well.)
> 
>   
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